The 16 short stories that Luo Lingyuan unifies in this volume reveal the indomitable will of people to survive and thrive and simultaneously unveil the depths of the human psyche. Desperate farmers, a frustrated student, women who have to sell themselves, police in a raid, a pilgrim: we encounter different people with some from China and some from Germany. They’re searching for support and happiness and are pushed to the limits of their capacity to suffer. With only a few words, the author manages to draw the reader directly into people’s lives.